


Une Liberté Silencieuse

by Christian_Rose_99384



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Canon Universe, Cute, Ereri Spring Weekend 2017, Feel-good, Fluff, M/M, Reincarnation, The major character death is odd, it has some sad parts, later though, meteor showers, mostly - Freeform, not really sad in the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-05 04:46:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11006286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Christian_Rose_99384/pseuds/Christian_Rose_99384
Summary: Eren and Levi find their freedom in a place other than fighting for it.They find it in their hearts.They find it in one another.{My contribution for Ereri Spring Weekend 2017}





	1. Picnic

“Oi. Didn’t I tell you that I wanted to take you out tonight?”

 

Eren’s body pivoted at the sound of Levi’s voice, spinning around and taking in the shorter form before him. Levi held a wicker basket in the bend of his arm, his uniform complete except his cravat. Eren had removed the top part of his harness, feeling the chaffing on his chest and shoulders from the heavy training they had done that morning. He smiled softly and made his way over to his superior, greeting him with a brush of his knuckles against Levi’s jaw.

 

“Hey, Captain. I remembered, I was just about to come down to meet you at your quarters.” Eren hummed, looking down at the basket Levi held. He reached for it, but Levi stepped back with a scolding click of his tongue.

 

“You’ll get to see what’s inside soon. And haven’t I told you not to use titles when we’re on free time?” Levi cocked a brow just slightly as he looked at Eren. The brunet sighed, smiling sheepishly as he nodded. “Right then, let’s get going.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“The top of the wall? How did you get the patrols to leave?”

 

“We’re technically on patrol, but we can cover the ground needed for the night from here.”

 

“Oh. But why up here? We could have waited until the rest day tomorrow.”

 

“Look up.”

 

When Eren’s eyes turned up towards the sky, a quiet gasp sounded as he watched the sky with wonder. The sky was a deep hue of navy blue and black, stars speckled the night sky above with bright twinkles of light. The moon hung high in the sky, completely oblivious to the peril that the humans went through each day. No cloud to be seen as strings of bright white shot through the sky one after the other, looking like bird of fiery illumination that flew from star to star. Lights that felt… free.

 

“Is this… What is this called?”

 

“It’s called a meteor shower, or, at least that’s what Hanji called it. This one happens every year on the same day.” Levi answered, spreading out the soft white and red quilt onto the cement floor, setting the basket on top of it. “Sit.”

 

Eren obeyed, quickly settling onto the blanket, pulling the basket close. When he looked inside as Levi sat down across from him, looking up at the sky with his usual unreadable expression.

 

“Woah, you got meat? How did you manage this, Levi?” Eren breathed as he pulled out the two chicken sandwiches, wrapped up in foil that he had to remove just to see the delicious meat hidden between the slices. Smiling, Eren looked in to see a small pouch of strawberries. “Strawberries? I didn’t know we had any plants around… Or that we could even grow them.”

 

“I know a guy.” Levi replied simply, grabbing his own sandwich and unwrapping the foil that covered it. He hummed softly as he settled, watching Eren pull the strawberries out from the basket with an excited expression.

 

Soon, they were settled in and comfortable, looking up to the sky and eating their food. The silence was comfortable, shared, easy to be in. Levi liked it, the sounds of soft winds and their breathing being the only things that could be heard. Eren was pretty fond of it, too. After years of constant speaking, yelling, loud noises that made them afraid… This silence, this peace.

 

It was what had made them fall for each other in the first place.

 

That feeling of serenity while in the presence of the other, the way if they got close enough they could hear each other’s heart. They could listen to the rhythmic beat that told them ‘ _You are alive_ _and so is the one you care for_.’

 

Sometimes, before expeditions, they would simply lie tangled up in one another in the most intimate and chaste ways. Legs weaved between until they were unsure of how to untangle them, arms wrapped around toned, muscle packed torsos that made it hard to find a comfortable position. Hearing the familiar thumping against rib cages and feeling the brush of scarred, calloused, war-torn skin. They couldn’t find freedom, and it was unlikely that both of them would one day see the war end, so they decided to find solace in another’s touch. The breathing of their own personal freedom, dreaming of being the bird in the sky, flying free underneath the early morning sun.

 

Sometimes, they would spend the night before listening to the gasping breaths, to the soft sounds of beloved ecstasy and addictive contact. Hearing whispered confessions and muttered praise, the shifting of bed sheets and uncorking of bottles of oil. Falling into each other completely with reckless abandon, not fearing the days to come, the impending doom that is patiently waiting for them. Silently ignoring the fact the one day, one of them may come back alone with even more pain to shoulder, or that they both may not come back at all. Instead, they were leaving that for when it comes, remembering that right then, right there, they were the closest they could ever physically be.

 

Eren had once said, “ _I didn’t know it when I was ten, or fifteen, or any other time before… But now, I know that freedom comes in many forms. Even in the form of a fellow person, a fellow soldier who has seen equally horrible things._ ” They had become each other’s freedom from the thoughts of despair, death, and _fear_ . They had taken the feeling of understanding that they shared for one another and turned it into so much more. It was something, one of the few things, that Levi could wholeheartedly say that he would _never_ regret.

 

Yes. Levi very much liked this silence where he could hear even the softest of sounds. The silence that allowed him to dream of a world without walls, to dream of being the bird upon a backdrop of blue, no fear, no hatred, no dysfunction.

 

Just freedom that comes in green eyes and messy hair.

 

A world where Eren didn’t fear himself.

 

A world where Levi didn’t consider his life to be worth so little in the end.

 

A world where Eren and Levi didn’t need to be each other’s source of liberty, but they were anyway.

 

Just in case.


	2. Overcast

“It’s going to rain today, the clouds are dark and there’s already a bit of mist.”

 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Levi groaned, disgruntled. “I hate the fucking rain.”

 

“Why? Gives us a reason to stay in for the night and not be forced to fraternize.” Eren shrugged, walking back over to the desk where Levi sat, fuming quietly. He was so horribly on edge, the tension in his shoulders was visible, fingers tight around the feather ink pen as jerky movements brought it to the inkwell over and over again. 

 

Levi stopped writing for a moment, looking up at Eren with an uncharacteristically emotional and darkened expression. “Because rain and mist alike can ruin a soldier’s life.”

 

Oh.

 

_ Oh _ .

 

Eren understood now. Levi had seen things that Eren couldn’t bring himself to think about. No, the man had never shared these demons and horrific sights, Eren had long since accepted that he never would, but Eren had seen his fair share of horrors and could easily think up multitudes of scenarios that Levi may have gone through that involved rain.

 

Eren stayed silent, allowing Levi to work, understanding that Levi needed his silence for the moment. Soon enough, the feather was laid down and the papers were stashed away with a heavy sigh. Steel met green and the cock of a single thin brow held a question. 

 

“My quarters tonight? I would appreciate your presence.” Levi asked, his eyes searching Eren’s

 

“Of course.” was Eren’s happy, lighthearted reply. “Should I clean…?”

 

“No, that won’t be needed tonight.”

 

“Alright then. I’ll be there come nightfall.” 

 

* * *

 

 

“Are you alive, Eren?”

 

“Yes, Levi. I am. I’m right here.”

 

They were tangled together completely, breaths and heartbeats shared in the dim, candlelit room. Legs wrapped around each other, hooked at the ankles and knees, arms tight around one another, tracing unknown patterns into scar deformed skin. The loud patter of rain against the glass window made Levi’s arms tighten around Eren, allowing that familiar peace to cover his upset, the memories of a girl and a boy that trusted him, only to die in vain. 

 

Levi’s lungs filled until they hurt, ached with the stretch before they deflated slowly, steadily like a strong gust of wind. 

 

“Promise me. Promise that you will fight to stay alive.”

 

Eren’s head shifted on Levi’s chest, looking up at him with a deep frown. This wasn’t usual for Levi, not this insecure and stressed out way of acting, words no louder than the rain pouring from the skies. 

 

“Are yo-”

 

“ _ Promise me _ .”

 

Eren’s frown only got stronger, more confused as he looked intently at Levi, brows furrowed. He nodded slowly, one of his hands sliding up, up along marred, forever bruised skin until he could touch the emotional expression on Levi’s face. The sadness and fear glinting in steel eyes making Eren’s stomach turn when they connected with sea green eyes, ones that granted Levi his peace. 

 

“I promise. I’ll always fight. If not for myself, for you. I will  _ never  _ stop fighting for my life.”

 

Levi’s jaw clenched visibly, Eren could feel it beneath his palm that rest against Levi’s sharp features. The older man nodded, swallowing thickly as one of his own hands slid up to cup the back of Eren’s head, feeling long brunet hair slip between the crevices of his called hands.

 

Then he was pulling Eren in, leaning forward slightly on his own accord until he felt soft, careful lips meet his own, a gentle press of flesh that shot sparks through Levi’s body like the screeching brakes of a train, red-hot metal flying into the air, bright from the heat, before burning out, falling down to the ground lamely. 

 

The unhurried movement of Eren’s jaw that Levi followed, feeling the rest of the worries, the pain, the thoughts of tomorrow fall away. The only thing that truly mattered in that moment was their lips and their bodies, mere chasteness and intimacy. Nothing more than a brush of their lips, once, twice, thrice. 

 

The soft sound that pierces their thoughts as they pull back, eyes fluttering open to meet each other. Then Eren’s voice is breaking through, a whispered promise of his trust, his mind, and his heart. 

 

“I love you. Don’t ever forget that.”


	3. Warmth

“The expedition is in less than a month.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Will you be able to handle it?”

 

“Don’t you mean ‘will you be okay, Eren?’”

 

“No. I meant what I said.”

 

“Hm.” Eren’s head pressed farther into Levi’s shoulder, readjusting their intertwined position. “I’ll be fine, Levi. I trust that this simple exploration mission will go fine.” 

 

Levi stayed silent as Eren took his pale hand into his own, tangling their fingers and brushing his thumb over the flesh gently. 

 

“The first breath a man takes… Can be his last. The last breath a man takes... Can be the first one that he truly felt he lived for.” Levi recited, swallowing quietly as he felt Eren’s fingers tighten around his own. “I don’t want to feel like I didn’t live for every good moment. I don’t want  _ you _ to be doomed to feeling like you didn’t do everything you could to be happy in this shitty, unreasonable, and fucking cruel world.”

 

* * *

 

 

“L-Levi.” Eren croaked, pulling himself slightly closer to the man laid out a few feet away. Levi’s head tilted slightly, dulled eyes looking at Eren as he came closer. “Levi, yo-you’re gonna be alright.”

 

“E-Eren… Your… Your stomach.” Levi rasped, his eyes locking on the large splotch of blood. The wound through the ripped and tattered clothing not healing as it should be, instead just continuing to pour blood.

 

“And your l-leg.” Eren whispered, gripping Levi’s hand in his own. There was no making it now, they knew. The squad members were too far off, they couldn’t walk. The gear was in ruins and worth nothing to them, simply scrap scattered around them. Levi lifted his head, looking at where the missing limb should have been.

 

“Oh. Shit.” Levi muttered, eyes widening slightly as the leg allowed crimson to pump out, freely spilling. “I’m not going to live much longer.”

 

“Neither will I.” 

 

As warmth surrounded their bodies in the state of slowly dying, hand in hand, tears streaking their faces silently, they realized something so horribly cruel. 

 

Death’s embrace is not cold. No. It is blissful like a summer’s evening. It’s warm like freshly baked sweets and like the cool breeze filled with the scent of apple grass. Death’s embrace seduces you into falling, melting, relaxing into its hold, showing you that closing your eyes will make you feel better. Allowing your breath and heart to slow as it slowly whisks you into sleep, feeling that comfortable heat surround your heart and mind. Death’s embrace is the one you fear the most, yet deeply, intensely beg for in the darkest night.

 

“I’m not cold anymore.” Levi whispered, the words slightly breaking when his body began to give out. His hand loosening around Eren’s tears still silently falling from tired, steel eyes. “A-Are you?” 

 

“No… I feel… Safe.” Eren responded, his head resting against Levi’s shoulder like nothing was wrong as they faded away, slow, tame, no screams, no titans, just the weight of their eyelids beginning to become too much to fight off. “I’m g-glad. Glad I get to die here. With you.”

 

“I-I expected to b-be done quick in the mouth of a titan. To have no one mourn me or even know if I had truly died. I’m… I’m glad I don’t have to be alone.” 

 

“Me too.”

 

As the light slowly faded, their vision tunneling and steadily darkening, they both whispered their last promise, their last words to one another in the warm embrace of not only Death, but one another. 

 

“I l-love you, Levi. Find me… Again. I-In two thousand, three thousand, four thousand years. Find me after the walls have crumbled. I’ll w-wait.”

 

“Okay. I promise. I will fi-... Find… You…”

 

Levi didn’t feel like he hadn’t lived, he knew he had. He loved every second he shared with the ones he cared for, but right then. When Levi filled his lungs one final time. He felt as though that was merely the beginning of the world they had always wished to be in.

 

* * *

 

 

“E-Eren.”

 

Levi’s eyes widened as he stared into the shocked eyes of another, familiar green meeting his steel. Levi’s fingers tighten around the coffee cup as he stared at the barista, smiles slowly growing on both of their renewed faces.

 

“Captain!” The brunet cried, literally jumping over the cashier counter into the man’s welcoming arms. “Y-You found me.”

 

“What did I tell you about calling me that on our free time, brat?” Levi chuckled, his arms tight around the lanky man in front of him.

 

“S-Sorry.” He whispered, a soft sob coming from his chest as his own arms tightened around Levi. “I just… I can’t b-believe we found each other again.”

 

“Yeah… Me neither.”

 

“I still love you.” 

 

“Me too. I-I love you, too, Eren.”

 

“You in shock?” Eren chuckled out, pulling away to look at Levi and swipe away his own tears.

 

“A bit, yeah.”

 

“Well, my shift ends in fifteen. We can go grab dinner.” Eren offered, a smile on his face as he quickly kissed Levi’s cheek before walking around the counter and going back to counting his drawer for the day. 

 

Levi smiled softly, reaching up to brush his finger over his cheek. Suddenly, a happy thought surged through his chest. “You’ll get to meet Isabel and Farlan this time around.”

 

Eren seemed confused, but then realized who it must have been. The people whose names were never spoken, but could be seen tormenting him in the fog and rain. The brunet smiled wide and nodded, biting his lip gently with excitement.

 

“I’d like that…”

 


End file.
